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The implementation of a Federal Government policy to stimulate increase in tomato production has remained stalled since May 2017, as it appears the Nigerian Customs service has continued to disregard the policy which would have opened up investments in greenhouse farming, address the annual challenges faced in tomato production, including pests, diseases, erratic price fluctuations, and severe post-harvest losses.
The price-based measures for tomato policy, which took effect 30 days after April 7, 2017, stated that Greenhouse equipment is classified as Agricultural equipment and should attract Zero percent import duty. However, eight months later, the policy has remained comatose.
“The Greenhouse concession has not been respected by the Nigerian Custom Service,” said Emmanuel Ijewere, chairman Best Foods Limited, in an emailed response to BusinessDay enquiries.
“They (Customs service) still insist on a letter from the Federal Minister of Agriculture every time you bring in a shipment. Such letters take upwards of 3 months; meanwhile the green houses are accumulating demurrage that is usually far higher than the duty waived. Apparently this defeats the intention of bringing down the price of a green house. Actual it is now worse of,” said Ijewere, who is also vice president of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG).
A greenhouse is a structure with walls and roof mostly made from transparent material, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.
Special greenhouse varieties of certain crops, such as tomatoes, are generally used for commercial production. These structures range in size from small sheds to industrial-sized buildings. As they may enable certain crops to be grown throughout the year, greenhouses are increasingly important in the food supply of many countries such as Nigeria, where diseases and pests could wreak havoc to an entire season’s worth of food harvest.
Humphrey Otalor, marketing communications manager, Dizengoff Nigeria, which holds a significant market share in agricultural equipment imports, also corroborates the views of non-compliance by the customs service.
“Even after the Federal Government has announced the zero percent duty on greenhouse equipment, it is still yet to be implemented by the relevant government agency (Customs service), several months after.
“Therefore, importers of greenhouses are still required to pay the 20% duty outside the government mandatory 5%VAT, because of the simple excuse, that HS Code on greenhouses still attract 20% duty, and until it is corrected on the HS code, the Custom (asserts it) has the constitutional right to continue with the 20% charges,” said Otalor in an email to BusinessDay.
“Someone also brought in greenhouse equipment and was charged. Government has said what it wants, but it is not being effected,” said Africanfarmer Mogaji, CEO, X-Ray Farms by phone.
As Otalor noted, the additional charges are passed unto the end users (that is, Farmers). Invariably, most times, importers of greenhouses are constrained on the number of greenhouse to import every season, due to the heavy charges involved. Consequently, the quantum of production which ought to have been achieved takes a hit.
BusinessDay reached out to Joseph Attah, spokesperson for the Nigerian Customs Service, and in his response via text message, stated that “Green house is Zero percent, while prefabricated buildings are 20 percent. Some people bring the prefab in the name of green house. Green houses are strictly for agriculture, while the prefab houses have different usage in different circumstances.”
The tomato policy as it is called, was aimed at creating at least 60,000 additional jobs in fresh fruit production and processing, and as well increase local production of fresh tomato fruit required for fresh fruit consumption and processing into paste. These objectives however remain defeated on account of the impasse with the customs service even as Nigeria’s tomato production remains grossly inadequate.
If successfully implemented, experts say having more greenhouses would have increased local production of tomato for fresh consumption, production of concentrate for industrial scale, and of significance, reduce post-harvest losses.
Nigeria’s demand for fresh tomato according to the Agriculture Promotion Policy (2016 – 2020) is estimated at about 2.2 million metric tonnes per annum, while the country produces only about 1.5 MMT. Despite the supply gap, about 40 percent (equivalent to 700,000 MT) of fresh tomato is lost due to wastage. As part of ways to bridge the gap, the 2017 Tomato policy noted that, Nigeria imports an average of 150,000 MT of tomato concentrate per annum valued at $170 million.
Mogaji told BusinessDay, that “Even though it will take some time (to achieve sufficiency in production) because of the volume required, but over time the effect will become visible. We will see tomatoes for fresh market, and those farmers that produce in the North will focus theirs on processing. The earlier the customs’ disregard for the policy is settled, the better for the transformation being expected.”
As he explains, when more farmers can focus on producing tomato for industrial processors, it will even reduce traffic to places like Mile 12 in Lagos, as greenhouses will be taking care of fresh market.
With more production from farmers in the open field, “that is when the Dangotes and co can be profitable,” Mogaji said.
Otalor also stated that “if the Federal Government will ensure the implementation of this policy (zero percent on greenhouse), we will see more investors coming into greenhouse farming, thereby ensuring food security and economic growth.”
CALEB OJEWALE & BUNMI BAILEY


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Safilo Group and The New School’s Parsons School of Design are teaming up for the first-ever Safilo x Parsons Design Thesis Competition.
The competition provides six thesis-level BFA students with the opportunity to design eyewear as part of their final thesis work, with the winner having a prototype manufactured by Safilo. The winning prototype will be displayed during Parson’s end of year benefit in May and each of the six finalists will have the opportunity to win a cash prize of $5,000.
Last Friday, November 11th, Safilo’s VP and Creative Director Alessandro Marcer, who heads the company’s New York design studio, met with the six finalists. The winning student will be selected by Safilo with the support of a panel of prominent fashion industry players.
The Safilo x Parsons Design Thesis Competition builds on Safilo’s commitment to educate younger generations by passing down the art of eyewear as the company has done with its Safilo Product School which was inaugurated in 2015 as an apprenticeship program.
— Christine Galasso

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California voters approved recreational marijuana five years ago, joining a club that has now grown to 18 states and Washington, D.C. The hope was legalization would eventually put illicit operations out of business. But instead, the opposite is happening: The underground market is booming, causing some to warn the regulated system is teetering toward collapse.
Business owners face steep taxes and costly red tape, and consumers are finding that better deals can be had outside of licensed stores. We embedded with law enforcement during raids of outlaw operations and spoke with illegal growers and dealers about the market realities in California’s weed economy.
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The Successful UAW Strike Portends a Successful EV Transition
Automakers can invest in their workers and the electric vehicles needed to cut emissions at the same time.
When the United Auto Workers (UAW) started its strike against Ford, GM, and Stellantis earlier this year, a grim storyline took shape in the press: This strike pitted President Biden’s push for a transition to electric vehicles (EVs) against his support for workers.
Writing about the strike and the transition to zero-emitting vehicles, the New York Times put it this way: “The political challenge posed by the industry’s transition to electric cars may be only beginning.” Politico was one of any number of publications issuing a simple warning: “UAW Strike Could Disrupt EV Rollout.” Two so-called facts were seemingly inarguable: Electric vehicles require far fewer workers to build, and none of the new battery plants could be unionized.
But now that the strike is over—more quickly than many assumed and on much better terms for workers than analysts had said was possible—a different set of lessons are clear, and they are the exact opposite of what many in the media and hot take marketplace had predicted:
- The Big Three automakers can invest in both their workers and the factories to make new EVs.
- Workers at many of the new battery plants can enjoy the same union protection as other autoworkers or have an easier pathway to join the union.
- Building EVs can create more jobs over the next few decades as the industry builds up its capacity and know-how.
Before examining each of these three points, it’s important to correct one misunderstanding.
While many commentators tried to pit union workers against electric vehicles, neither the UAW nor environmental groups ever did so. Just the opposite. Back in March of 2021, the UAW issued a white paper that called for specific ways the new EV industry could benefit workers: “The growth of EVs must be an opportunity to reinvest in American manufacturing, with union workers making the vehicles of the future.”
Meanwhile, NRDC was one of more than 100 green groups that sent a letter to the CEOs of the Big Three and specifically endorsed the UAW’s bargaining position: “Only through meeting these demands will the United States ensure a just transition to a renewable energy future.”
As the UAW strike began in mid-September, the Big Three executives and outside commentators pitted the workers’ demands for fair wages against the need for new investments in battery plants and EV factories. Ford CEO Jim Farley went so far as to warn that the workers’ demands would force Ford to scrap its investments in electric vehicles, saying the UAW’s contract demands would force the company to “choose between going out of business and rewarding our workers,” according to CleanTechnica.
But the reality was much different. The auto companies have billions of dollars in profits to draw from for these new investments, and worker salaries are just a small slice of their costs.
The Big Three made $21 billion in profits so far this year and $250 billion over the past decade. All of the CEOs have been raking in millions of dollars in their salaries and incentives. Worker salaries, on the other hand, make up just 5 percent of the cost of final assembly of a new vehicle, a study cited by the New York Times concluded.
And now, with the UAW contract in hand, autoworkers can get long-overdue pay hikes while automakers continue to make the investments they need to make (and frankly, should have made years ago) in building electric vehicles.
A big part of these investments is in building new battery plants. The auto companies have set up joint ventures to build many of them, and the UAW made it a top priority during bargaining to ensure these new plants are captured under each automaker’s master agreement or that the workers at these plants have other pathways to unionization. At first, the automakers balked, and outside analysts said this would be a bridge too far.
The Associated Press reported: “Ford’s Farley accused the union of holding an agreement hostage over union representation of battery plant workers. On a conference call with industry analysts, he said high wages at battery plants would raise the price of Ford’s electric vehicles above those from Tesla and other competitors.”
But then the ground started to shift. In a dramatic, Friday evening announcement in the midst of the strike, UAW President Shawn Fain announced that GM had agreed to unionize its battery plants. “We have had a major breakthrough that has not only dramatically changed negotiations but is going to change the future of our union and the future of our industry,” Fain said.
Stellantis soon followed, and even Ford agreed to create strong pathways for workers at future battery plants to fast-track union representation. There will be hard work ahead to ensure that all of these plants get union representation, but the agreement goes a long way toward making it happen.
Last, while this wasn’t part of the strike itself, one thing we learned along the way is that job growth and electric vehicles can go hand in hand. For years, a shadowy estimate has circulated around this transition: EVs, it was said, require 30 percent fewer workers to make; the reason being that an EV has fewer moving parts and fewer parts means fewer workers.
Except that it’s just not accurate. A stunning story from Emily Pontecorvo at Heatmap concludes: “Whether or not the U.S. is able to build up domestic battery production, early evidence of the EV transition in the United States shows that EVs may require more labor, even in the final assembly stages.” If you include the battery production figures, this new industry could create thousands more good manufacturing jobs in this country. (Pontecorvo’s full article is worth taking the time to read. There is a lot to it.)
So, the results are in, and the conclusion is clear: With a union agreement in place that includes new measures to help unionize battery plants, the predicate is set to ensure that workers benefit while the United States transitions to electric vehicles. Yes, as we have seen recently, the road ahead isn’t flat and straight. There will be twists and turns, ups and downs. But the general direction is crystal clear. We are on the road to a better tomorrow.


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Facebook’s failed IPO largely owed to technical snafus when trading began, but one major reason for the disaster was American automobile manufacturer General Motors’ decision to stop spending money on advertising on that particular site, claiming that Facebook ads were ineffective.
After six weeks, the car concern has changed its collective mind, according to the Wall Street Journal, and is renegotiating a proposal to once again buy advertising space. GM’s decision was spurred on by Facebook’s agreement to let advertisers to use third-party data from outside of Facebook to target its users. The voice of reason behind this momentous decision was New York-based ad sales boss Carolyn Everson, who sidled up to GM CEO Daniel Akerson at the Cannes film festival last month.
The consensus among people in the advertising tech space is that Facebook cheated itself out of untold sums of advertising dollars. Although advertisers love to show their notices to people who visit their websites, Facebook disallowed advertisers from purchasing ads targeting Facebook users based on their activity outside the site, owing to the requirement of using third-party data in this process. Additionally, the word on the cloud is that Facebook attempted to invent new terms for ad buyers, which is generally regarded to be a mistake.


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Briggs: Here's what it's like to deliver food for ClusterTruck
Want to deliver food for ClusterTruck? Too bad, you can't.
There are no positions available, at least not in Indianapolis, where the fast-growing food delivery startup is based. ClusterTruck drivers got in early and they aren't leaving.
They're people like Ken Billeter, 48, of Zionsville, who lost a corporate sales job soon before ClusterTruck launched in April 2016. Billeter started taking deliveries for ClusterTruck on what he thought would be a short-term, part-time basis. He just surpassed 20,000 deliveries with the company and is making so much bank that he has stopped looking for a new job.
"For the first couple days, I did half days," Billeter said. "I went in, stuck my toe in the water to try it out. I did not anticipate it being the full-time position it has been. It was kind of a bridge job as I looked for traditional, corporate jobs. It ended up being such a good opportunity, I've stayed with them ever since."
Billeter is part of a growing and oft-discussed gig economy, in which tech companies turn over much of their public-facing operations to contract workers who have flexible schedules, but do not receive salaries or benefits.
There are ongoing debates about whether companies such as ride-hailing services and food delivery startups are exploiting these contract workers, who often earn less money than they expect and get no reimbursement for their expenses.
Billeter declined to say how much money he earns from ClusterTruck, but company CEO Chris Baggott said some drivers ended 2017 in the $60,000 to $70,000 range. Billeter acknowledged he's in the top tier of ClusterTruck drivers.
ClusterTruck, which is expanding to cities across the U.S., makes food in its Downtown Indianapolis kitchen and delivers it to addresses within a six-minute radius. The company uses an algorithm that times food preparation to coincide with the arrival of drivers who deliver one order at a time. ClusterTruck claims it delivers food in an average of 21 minutes in Indianapolis.
Baggott insists that earning potential and work conditions set ClusterTruck apart from other tech companies such as competitor GrubHub and ride-hailing service Uber.
Unlike other food delivery startups, ClusterTruck drivers only pick up food from the company's kitchen instead of having to travel to partner restaurants. That cuts down on wasted time. Drivers also drop off orders at customers' curbs instead of getting out and walking into offices and onto porches.
"They don't turn over," Baggott said. "You can't get a job delivering for ClusterTruck. You haven't been able to for months. They don't leave, they're not unhappy. There's a lot of dignity that comes with the position you don't get with our competitors."
There's also a lot of work.
Billeter didn't get to 20,000 deliveries by only sticking his head up during weekday lunch rushes. He gets after it seven days a week, putting in 80-plus hours, and keeps working even as demand decreases.
"You've got to be somewhat patient," Billeter said. "If you drop off, there has to be demand for them to pull you back in when business starts to pick back up in the evening. I think that's one thing that makes the opportunity work, is the way they built demand in the system. They will only pull on the number of people needed.
"That is something, I think, different from Uber and Lyft. They've overloaded and it's diluted those opportunities, where ClusterTruck has done a good job of making sure they didn't overload the system."
During busy lunch periods, ClusterTruck uses about 25 couriers who pick up orders mere moments after they have been completed and drop them off either by car or bike. Drivers, or cyclists, then return to the kitchen for their next order. The system is designed to get food to customers within five to 10 minutes after it has been packaged.
"A lot of companies require drivers to schedule a week in advance, and they have to commit to time slots," Baggott said. "Our system is completely free market. They work when they want to work, don't work when they don't want to work. Because our system is so transparent for delivery people, they know when we're busy, they know when we're not busy and they self-regulate."
Billeter hasn't ruled out a return to full-time employment, but he's also not spending a lot of time on job sites.
"I may start to look some next year," he said. "But right now, this is comparable, even a little better, than my previous corporate job. Even though I put in a lot of hours, I still have the opportunity to come and go whenever I need to."
If you want to deliver food for ClusterTruck, your best chance might be rooting for Billeter to get a dream job offer that he can't turn down.
Call IndyStar business columnist James Briggs at (317) 444-6307. Follow him on Twitter: @JamesEBriggs.


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According to a KPMG sustainability survey, as of 2020, 92% of S&P 500 companies had committed to sustainability and 83% of global companies now report on their sustainability efforts.
However, according to Amit Jain, Forbes council member and chief product officer at ServiceMax, “as impressive as these numbers are, many, if not most, of these companies are simply paying lip service while taking small, relatively inconsequential steps toward sustainability rather than implementing meaningful changes to their business strategies.”
This is a problem that concerns simple end-goals, since the primary objective of public companies is profit maximisation, Jain implies that they invariably build planned obsolescence into their products.
This means of course that the natural interests or private companies are at odds with sustainability and the circular economy.
Jain believes that this problem can be addressed through “a three-pronged approach that includes legislation, tax incentives and the adoption of new, innovative approaches to current business models and strategies.”
Firstly, government sustainability mandates which would require companies to implement sustainable business practices are already being evaluated in Europe.
Next, tax Incentives would include the provision of tax benefits to organisations that adopt sustainability goals, offsetting their desire to upset, or not commit to sustainability objectives, by essentially appealing to their profit-oriented nature.
The third and most important option, according to this approach, begins with a mindset that doesn’t perceive sustainability and profitability as being at odds, but sees how aligning the two will create new opportunities and new revenue streams.
Jain perceives that “business strategies and processes will have to change. Production and development will have to evolve. But in doing so, we can find ways of making companies both more sustainable and more profitable at the same time.”
Software-enabled technologies which will line the near-future landscape will provide an opportunity for manufacturers to concentrate their profits on software upgrades and developments instead of being centred on the hardware that has until now been the primary locus of profit itself.


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The Australian IT and tech sector is making waves. Both within the national economy and workforce and in terms of international recognition. The landscape of the whole sector is changing as the belief that Australian companies can outcompete the biggest international technology companies firmly takes hold.
The phenomenal international success of homegrown IT companies such as Atlassian, Campaign Monitor, and Freelancer has provided the evidence that the Australian IT industry needed to show that great local ideas and talent can be turned into multibillion-dollar companies without having to leave Australian shores.
The power of start-ups
There is little doubt that in Australia, like in many countries around the world, the current driving force of the IT industry is in start-ups. Due to the rapid changes occurring in the technology sector, start-ups are able to predict trends and take advantage of emerging technologies. While larger companies are also reacting to these changes, in most cases it is more difficult for them to be as agile as most start-ups can be.
There is also a general perception that start-up companies are more aligned with the work aspirations and practices of Millennials. Many start-ups place a strong emphasis on work flexibility - for example allowing employees to work from home, work across different departments within the company, or have unrestricted leave policies. There are also the more commonly talked about perks that many offer such as ping pong tables, free food, break-out areas to relax and brainstorm, and modern office layouts.
How start-ups are shaping the entire IT market
There is little doubt that successful start-up technology companies are currently at the top of the list for many prospective employees.
Spark Recruitment Director, Luke Singleton, believes that at present, start-ups are the driving force bringing exciting change to the IT market.
“They are establishing themselves as talent hotspots, leaving more traditional businesses fighting to keep up with the disruptors and innovators. In response, larger companies are forced to change their company culture and employment branding to make their work environment more appealing and their IT environments more dynamic. Internally, they are adopting many of the processes and mindsets from within these start-ups but still operate with more embedded systems and processes. The benefit of this is that these ‘hybrid’ environments are actually more appealing to many employees."
In addition to offering more modern work offices and working practices, some large companies are going even further to promote flexible working environments by hosting project teams in co-working spaces. This is to offer employees the opportunity to work temporarily in other work locations as well as providing the networking benefits of working in a mixed company environment.
However, it is also important to be aware that just because larger companies might be looking to adopt the trappings of a start-up (perks and ping pong), those types of practices can sometimes actually hurt staff retention if the job content isn’t aligned to the culture they’re trying to create. A good motto to remember is, “The perk isn’t the work."
Insights for job seekers
While working at a startup is desirable for many new IT graduates, it is also important to recognise that many promising start-ups are very hard to get into.
The types of skills and experience you need to demonstrate at interview include: high performance on technical skills tests, demonstrated ability to collaborate and deal with change, the ability to think innovatively and learn new technologies.
Because start-ups are more dynamic, employees are expected to add value beyond their “silos” and become involved in many different aspects of the business.
Due to the large number of applicants that successful IT and tech companies receive, it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to land an interview simply by adding your resume to an already towering stack accumulating on the desks of their HR departments.
One of the best ways to approach these types of companies is to register with a specialist IT and tech recruitment company such as Spark, that recruits only into that sector and has close client relationships with many top companies. This will significantly boost your chances of an interview if your skills and working style closely align with the culture of the company that you’re interested in.
The top companies redefining the Australian IT industry
It is hard to talk about successful Australian IT companies without mentioning the most successful of them all to date, Atlassian. Started by University of NSW friends, Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, they famously founded the company in 2002 on the back of a $10,000 credit card debt and have since turned it into a US$10 billion company. This makes it more valuable than much larger iconic Australian companies such as Lend Lease or Qantas.
Atlassian’s success has come on the back of developing a range of workplace collaboration and messaging applications including Jira, Confluence, and Stride. It has also more recently focused on acquiring other successful start-up apps to add to its portfolio of products, such as the 2017 acquisition of Trello, which not only broadens their product offerings but also makes the company more resilient against changing technology and communication trends.
Atlassian now has more than 100,000 customers and is set to earn more than $1 billion in revenue in 2018. With this constant growth in products, customers, and revenue, there is little doubt that Atlassian will continue to the lead the way for Australian IT companies in the near future.
ROKT is a relatively new arrival on the tech scene and is rapidly gaining momentum as a serious player in the digital marketing space. Founded in 2012 in a small office in North Sydney, the company has steadily expanded with additional offices now located in Melbourne, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, and Singapore. It was founded by former Jetstar CEO, Bruce Buchanan, who bought a stake in an existing digital advertising business, Rocklive, and rebranded it as ROKT in 2013.
ROKT has created an e-commerce transaction marketing platform that allows businesses to monetise their websites by offering customers additional products and offers as they are completing a transaction. These offers are powered by machine learning algorithms to present customers with targeted products most likely to appeal to them.
ROKT is highly regarded as a place to work due to a real willingness to invest in maintaining a dynamic work culture. In addition to offering the types of perks common at modern tech companies, it is also well known as a company that offers its employees plenty of growth opportunities or the option to move to one of its other international offices.
Tyro is a fintech company that started its life in 2003 as MoneySwitch. It initially entered the market as Australia’s only independent EFTPOS provider but quickly expanded into credit cards and was later granted a banking license. It now serves more than 12,000 businesses and processes over $6.5 billion annually in card transactions for the retail, hospitality, and health sectors.
In 2016, the company was named the 43rd most innovative fintech company in the KPMG Fintech100 survey. It also sits on the Prime Minister’s advisory panel and is a regular contributor to the discussion of the future regulation of the Australian banking industry. 2017 has seen a period of rapid growth for the company, beginning with the announcement of a partnership with Afterpay. It has also seen revenue increased 28% in the first half of the year and the number of employees expanding by 40% to more than 300 staff.
Although now based in San Francisco, following a $200 million acquisition from TripAdvisor in 2014, Viator is another great Australian IT success story. It is one of the largest online tour and activity booking agencies in the world and its success has been largely driven by its tour curation model. Rather than simply listing every possible activity in each city, Viator has taken the approach of listing only a selection of the best tours and activities, offering more than 20,000 handpicked location and activity options to travellers.
Viator also offers a range of other useful tools including rating systems, reviews, and recommendations on its range of activities. People can browse suggested itineraries or set up accounts to plan, manage, and make bookings. It additionally offers various local language sites that serve European, Japanese, and South American markets as well as the Australian and North American markets.
Engineering Vice President, Jeff Lewis, attributes the company’s success to embracing the transition to mobile, where people can search and book tours at their new destination. The strength of the company is also bolstered by its range of affiliate sites and partners such as hotel chains, airlines, and online travel agencies. Now that it operates as a subsidiary of the very well-known and established TripAdvisor, its already bright future has been secured.
Campaign Monitor is another great Australian success story and was self-funded and profitable since its inception a decade ago. This is an admirable achievement for any start-up, let alone for a tech company, that despite rapidly increasing valuations often take many, many years to see their first profits.
Its email campaign software now boasts more than 130,000 paying customers and more recently it has had access to $250 million in venture capital. This has seen Campaign Monitor significantly expand its operations to establish new bases internationally and has also allowed the company to offer its employees an ownership stake. This is something that is a huge drawcard for employees who want to feel part of an organisation, not just an employee of one.
While the company’s core business remains its simple email newsletter tool, it has also expanded its product range to other marketing automation tools. Coupled with many recent high profile hirings and several key acquisitions, this has ensured that the company’s rapid rise will continue in the near future.
Canva is a graphic design software company that offers a wide range of tools to creative professionals. Founded in her mum’s Perth living room ten years ago, university student Melanie Perkins saw the opportunity to create a graphic design platform that was simpler and cheaper than other professional design software such as Photoshop. When it launched in 2012 it quickly gained a large pool of users (750,000 in just its first year). This proved that Melanie’s initial instinct that there was a huge demand for easy to use design software was right on the money.
Canva now boasts more than 10 million users and is valued at over $1 billion based on its recent venture capital raising. Its success is partly due to the wise move in 2014 to hire former Apple chief evangelist, Guy Kawasaki. His presence, along with the more than 15 million followers he has across various social media platforms, has provided the awareness that the company needed to become a truly international success. It is now available in 39 languages and has users from 179 countries.
With its already large pool of global users and the ever-increasing need for people to create graphics and designs for online content, it’s clear that Canva’s potential is only just starting to be realised.
Insentra is an IT services provider that offers technical and managed IT services. Since its launch seven years ago, the Sydney based company has boosted its workforce from just five to close to 100 spread between Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
From the outset, it has been focused on becoming the service provider of choice across the Asia Pacific region while creating a work environment that founder Ronnie Altit calls one that, “You never want to leave”. While this may sound like a throwaway line that any CEO might say, in his case it seems to be well supported by current and former employees as Insentra has consistently appeared in the top ten of the annual Australian Best Places to Work study, placing 4th in 2017.
The company’s core business units include data migration, cloud and collaboration, professional services, cybersecurity, training, and application delivery. What distinguishes Insentra from many other managed services providers is the company’s early recognition that project partners were looking for professional and managed services that also included project planning and management. Its key vendors include many high profile tech companies including Microsoft, Symantec, Citrix, and Veritas.
Prospa is a fintech with a focus on small business lending. It has made a dramatic entrance to the large SME market, lending more than half a billion dollars to over 12,000 businesses since 2012. This can be attributed to its innovative online, customer friendly lending model where all necessary documentation can be submitted online or via linked bank accounts. This means that customers can receive approvals in as little as 10 minutes and have funds in their account the next day.
This disruptive lending model has led to the company doubling the size of its loan book in the last 12 months and increasing its team from 90 to 150 people. Its success has not gone unnoticed as in early 2017 Prospa won the Lending Innovator of the Year Award in the inaugural FinTech Business Awards and was the fastest growing technology company in Australia for 2015 and the third fastest across Asia.
SIRCA was established in 2005 and was one of the first organisations working in Big Data in Australia. It is a fintech company that works in partnership with RoZetta Technology, where SIRCA is the not for profit arm of the organisation and RoZetta Technology represents the company’s commercial Big Data and analytics services.
CEO of SIRCA and RoZetta Technology, David Sharpe, believes the secret to successfully running an Australian fintech is to have the “creativity to find opportunities, innovation to deliver it, and a key focus on collaboration”.
He believes that the success of major innovations is dependent on the staff within the organisation collaborating across many different roles, thereby making the most of people’s skillsets in different areas.
Today, the company pools over ten billion financial transactions daily and manages more than 2 petabytes of historical financial data. This allows for the development of big data insights that can be applied to programmatic trading for financial institutions and governments around the world.
Envato is a Melbourne based digital marketplace, that allows users to purchase a range of themes, graphics, video, audio, photos, and 3D models. Similar in scope to Canva, the company targets web designers looking for low-cost content but also offers other useful tools via its marketplaces such as Photoshop actions, plugins, an online learning service, and the ability to hire freelancers.
While the company is now 11 years old, it has so far avoided the temptation to go public, instead remaining in the hands of its three company founders. It also consistently features in annual lists of the best companies to work at in Australia and in 2014 was recognised by JobAdvisor as “Australia’s Coolest Tech Company”. This isn’t too surprising since around one-third of its 300 staff work outside of the company’s Melbourne headquarters and they are also offered the opportunity to work anywhere in the world for up to three months as part of the company’s deliberately flexible working policies.
As another indicator of the type of culture and reward structure the company is fostering, last year it gave away US$1.2 million as part of the company’s profit share program, even sharing the profits with employees who had left the company during the last year.
Each of the above companies is forging ahead with becoming major international players rather than limiting their customers or focusing solely on the Australian market. It is this kind of leadership within the IT industry that is influencing the direction and culture of many of Australia’s other successful start-ups and inspiring the next generation of IT graduates and entrepreneurs.
Spark are actively recruiting for many start-ups just like these right now - if you are interested in learning more about potential opportunities then you can submit your resume below and we will contact you with any suitable opportunities, or you can email me at firstname.lastname@example.org
Submit Your Resume Below
Output or Attitude – which is the most important when assessing the performance of a Software Engineers?
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The new brand is called Volonti, and offers cups ($6) and pints ($12) to go, with by-the-scoop servings to come, Ella Piskun says. The new line is also providing the ice cream for MiFlavour’s existing ice cream macaron sandwiches. Currently, there are 10 flavors of Volonti gelato, including black currant, chocolate dirt, honey lavender, maple chestnut, banana pudding and London fog, an Earl Grey tea-inspired flavor.
MiFlavour’s team has been perfecting its new frozen dessert line for the past six months, Piskun says, after purchasing all the recipes and equipment from the recently shuttered Brain Freeze Creamery. Fans of the defunct creamery’s banana pudding and chocolate dirt ice cream can now find the two flavors in the Volonti gelato lineup.
In related news, MiFlavour has introduced several more new food items to its menu: two French-style quiches in an easily transportable tart form, a few cold salads for its savory menu, and pull-apart morning buns.
The bakery also recently unveiled a new mural of angel wings on the side of its building, painted by Spokane muralist Daniel Lopez. The Piskuns and Lopez each shared some personal stories in connection with the project on MiFlavour’s Instagram, @miflavour.


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I just saw on the news that Amazon is trying out a new concept where they will deliver packages inside your home or apartment via a special key. Do you think this is a good idea?
This is on top of drone deliveries to your door...
Who in their right mind would allow strangers access to their home?
Where is the privacy? You might as well give them your social security number and let them control your life...
Another bible prophecy is coming to fruition...
"You will not be able to buy or sell without the mark of the beast..."
Amazon is becoming the beast and we the people and our government is allowing it to happen. The use of commercial drones is a dangerous idea, The terrorists are jumping for joy. We have given them another way to carry on attacks of mass destruction. Can you imagine a swarm of drones decending on a downtown area or a bridge or tunnel. Just the sight of these swarms would cause panic on a scale of 9/11.
Where are the national security experts? Why do they think this is an acceptible risk? They are not thinking outside the box and we will pay the price. Mark my word.
I always knew that Amazon would be the beginning of the end of the world. And apparently so did Jesus. Curse you, Amazon!
But I mean, alternatively, you could just not use the service and move on with your life.
And I thought their ability to convince the US postal service to deliver their packages on Sunday was the most unbelievable accomplishment they could attain.
by Dennis L. Page 5 years ago
The Republicans want to introduce a bill to stop home delivery of mail. Instead they propose the United States Postal Service set up "mail hubs" or in other words, designated areas with clusters of mail boxes for pickup. Apparently in the zest to streamline the postal service there seems...
by Stacie L 6 years ago
Burger King tests home deliveryThe company says it has new technology to keep food hot and crispy in transit.By Kim Peterson on Tue, Jan 17, 2012 11:08 AMCan't make it out for a Whopper? Burger King just might bring it to you.The fast-food chain has begun delivering to homes in Washington, D.C.,...
by Stacie L 5 years ago
http://money.cnn.com/2013/07/23/news/ec … index.htmlThe U.S. Postal Service is marching towards a more "centralized delivery," where residents pick up their own mail from clusters of mail boxes located in their neighborhood. Local postmasters are sending hundreds of letters to...
by ngureco 6 years ago
How Do I Break The Security Code For The Latest Nokia Phones?I changed the default code of 12345 and now I have forgotten the code I inputted.
by SparklingJewel 6 years ago
I would be interested to hear opposition to the stated "facts" in this video...Has anyone done an extensive research on the origins of Social Security?http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4BjLrTq … r_embedded
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By Léo Azambuja
By the end of June, one of the longest-running businesses in Old Kapa‘a Town and an icon of long-gone plantation days will close its doors for good.
“There used to be this line of family businesses along the street here. We are one of the last dinosaurs,” said Lyle Kuboyama, owner of Kapa‘a Liquor & Wine Company.
The small liquor store that for 75 years served mostly residents is going out of business. Lyle, who will be 71 years old this year, says he’s slowing down and it’s only getting harder to run the business by himself.
“And I need to do some other things I haven’t been able to do,” the humble, soft-spoken storeowner said in an almost inaudible voice.
Lyle said he’ll shut down when his liquor license expires at the end of June. Until then, he’s liquidating his hard-liquor, but is still stocking on beer and soft drinks.
The story of Kapa‘a Liquor & Wine goes back before Lyle was even born.
Lyle’s father, Kashiko Kuboyama, worked on his family’s rice mill in Hule‘ia, Lihu‘e. After the mill shut down around 1930, the Kuboyamas bought the Hayashi Hotel in Nawiliwili and reopened it as Hotel Kuboyama.
Kashiko was an electrician and also sold appliances. While living in Nawiliwili, he sold a sewing machine to a seamstress in Kilauea. Later he married her daughter, Yukiko Kuboyama.
In 1940, Kashiko bought a small general store in Kapa‘a and reopened it as the Kapa‘a Liquor & Wine Company. A few years later, he opened an appliance store across the street. On the side, Kashiko worked as an electrician, wiring homes.
Back in the day, most Kapa‘a residents worked for the sugar or pineapple plantations. As a result, Lyle said, the majority of the liquor store’s customers were plantation workers; “Filipinos, Japanese, Portuguese, Chinese, everything.”
On payday, the plantation workers would form a huge line in front of the store. But the Kuboyamas also allowed customers to keep an account and pay it later.
In those days, Kapa‘a “was like an old cowboy town,” Lyle said. There were few cars and no traffic. Trains hauling sugar cane ran on tracks along the coast. Small portions of those tracks can still be seen over Mo‘ikeha Canal.
“Growing up was the best time,” he said. The kids would pull sugar cane from the back of the trains to chew on it. They picked guava from trees on the hillside by Kapa‘a Middle School and fished along the coast, catching aholehole, ‘aweoweo, papio and oama.
As a young man, he left for college on the Mainland and got a teaching job there. Then he was drafted to Vietnam and later discharged following an injury. He went back to college and teaching, and then worked as an accountant for 7-Eleven.
In 1982, he returned to Kaua‘i, just in time to see Hurricane ‘Iwa wipe out the original liquor store building, which had been there since at least 1900.
His family rebuilt the store, but Hurricane ‘Iniki in 1992 tore out the building’s top-half, which was again rebuilt. Three years later, Lyle decided to help his mother to run the store. His father died in 2008, at 96 years old, and his mother died in September, at 97 years old.
With the closing of Kapa‘a Liquor & Wine, another chapter of Kapa‘a’s old plantation days comes to an end.
Lyle’s customers told him they’re going to miss him. Some call him baby, others call him love.
“It’s been fun,” he said.


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At the Black Hat 2019 conference in Las Vegas (Nevada, USA), security experts demonstrated how to easily bypass the Face ID unlock system used on Apple smartphones using a kind of biometric Achilles heel. It turned out that it was not difficult to outwit the Face ID sensors: you just need to wear ordinary glasses, on top of the lenses of which are glued large squares of black electrical tape, inside which small squares of white electrical tape are glued. “Achilles’ heel” was found in the features of Face ID, writes the publication ThreatPost. As the experts found out, the Attention Detection does not scan the eye area when the user is in front of the smartphone with glasses. The Face ID workaround is shown on this slide: Large black squares of electrical tape mounted on glass imitate the user’s eyes, small white pieces of electrical tape over black serve as pupils. In this way, Apple’s biometric authentication system is misleading. Indeed, for this system, it seems that the device user is conscious and looking directly into the camera. Of course, in a real situation, it is quite problematic to carry out such an attack, which was recognized by researchers at the Black Hat 2019 conference, since in order to use this vulnerability, a number of such conditions must be met: the presence of glasses at hand (they should not be sun-protection), electrical tape of two colors and scissors; There must be physical access to the smartphone; a sleeping or immobilized user who does not notice that they are wearing glasses. Thus, security experts at the Black Hat 2019 conference wanted to show that the growth in the spread and widespread use of biometric systems to protect devices and data of users and organizations will be a new attack vector for attackers. And companies and organizations that produce and use such systems must quickly and proactively work to improve and modify biometric systems. Indeed, any revolutionary method of protecting personal data, even close to ideal, can sometimes be circumvented by the simplest things that are at hand.
- Adobe Unveils Prototype Mixed Reality Transparent Display Display
- Fake Charging Cable for iPhone as an Element for Hacking Laptops – “O.MG Cable”


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Have you an idea relating to the topic of resource management, circular economy, recycling or the handling of chemicals? Green…Read more
It’s been a busy week this week, as it will next week, as we head towards the launch of something very big, very exciting, and very unique, for Peterborough. I can’t wait to share more with you next week!
Looking back at this week, and yesterday in particular, I was pleased to host a large water conference for innovative businesses looking to collaborate with Anglian Water and other businesses in the industry. Water Connect 2016 was a large one day meet the buyer event aimed at sharing information on the platforms delivered by Anglian Water aimed at showcasing the latest innovations in the water industry with a view to creating the water company of the future.
There were presentations on The Water Innovation Network (of which Allia is a delivery partner with Opportunity Peterborough and Anglian Water) which allows companies to submit ideas, products and services to Anglian Water for free. There were also presentations on “The Shop Window” which is a live area around Newmarket where companies can embed and test new solutions that make a positive impact on the sustainability of Anglian Water and the impact they have as a company on people and planet. Around 100 delegates attended the event from across the UK and Europe and we hope to make a larger splash (pardon the pun!) with Water Connect 2017 next year. Do sign up for our free newsletter at www.waterinnovation.net to keep up to date with our upcoming events.
Looking forward, I am pleased that Allia Future Business Centre Peterborough will play host to Hack the Holidays 2.0 in December. Like last year’s event, Hack the Holidays is a 24 hour Hackathon organised by a group of local students designed for “hackers” of all ages to compete in the development of new apps, websites and pieces of code, largely but not exlcusively, around a Christmas theme. Last year’s entries included a Christmas tree with lights that changed colour depending on the responses of polls that were sent out to the audience, through to VR space games and a website that checks how “Christmassy” your Twitter account is. It was really great fun and it was fantastic to see the level of talent and creativity from students located in and around the city. Hack the Holidays takes place over the weekend of December 17th and 18th and I am sure we’ll be in for more entertaining Christmas hacks!
Tonight I have the pleasure of attending the Peterborough Telegraph Business Awards where Allia is sponsoring the Environmental Achievement category for the second year running. Last year I presented the award to the Larkfleet Group for their work developing green and sustainable homes and I am sure this year’s winner, whoever they may be, will be equally deserving. What a fabulous end to the week.
Blog post by Gareth Jones, Centre Manager, Allia Future Business Centre Peterborough.
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Photos: New GetGo fueled by solar power
Giant Eagle opens new store at South Side Works
Giant Eagle has opened a new GetGo gas station and convenience store on the South Side.
The store is located at East Carson and South 33rd streets in the South Side Works.
The store features a solar canopy roof that helps offset the store's need for electrical power.
The store also saves energy by using non-ozone depleting refrigerants.
Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Councilman Bruce Kraus took part in a ribbon cutting ceremony.


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16:08 PM | March 4, 2013 | —Natasha Alperowicz in Zurich
Clariant reported an increase in fourth-quarter profits and pledged to improve its margins further, to become one of the most profitable specialty chemical companies. Announcing the company’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 results in Zurich recently, CEO Hariolf Kottmann said that Clariant achieved solid results in a demanding year, with the majority of businesses performing well. Fourth-quarter net profit from continuing operations rose to 87 million Swiss francs ($94.3 million) from SF11 million in the last quarter of 2011. Fourth-quarter sales from continuing operations increased to SF1.51 billion from SF1.49 billion in the year-earlier period. Ebitda before exceptional items rose from SF213 million to SF225 million in the fourth quarter of 2012. The Ebitda margin was also higher in the quarter, rising from 14.3% to 14.9%.
Kottmann, addressing the media in Zurich, said that Clariant is evaluating options for detergent intermediates and leather services, the two remaining businesses the company plans to divest. These businesses, combined, employ 1,500 people and reported total sales of about SF550 million in 2012, said Patrick Jany, CFO. Clariant is in the process of carving out these operations from the rest of the group and hopes to begin the M&A process in the third or fourth quarter of this year, Kottmann said. The company has appointed Greenhill & Co. (London), an independent boutique bank, to advise on the transaction, Jany told CW. The assets of the detergent intermediates business are in Germany and France, and leather has a much-more-global footprint with assets in Latin America, Italy, and Asia, Jany said.
Kottmann also provided an update on the previously announced divestment of the textile chemicals, paper specialties, and emulsion businesses to SK Capital for SF502 million. Clariant hopes to finalize the sale in June this year, Kottmann said. Those 3 businesses employ 3,000 people and generated combined sales of SF1.2 billion in 2012.
Asked by CW about Clariant’s planned amines joint venture with Wilmar International (Singapore), Kottmann said the new company would be named The Global Amine Co. (Singapore). It will be the second-largest global player in primary amines and the third largest in tertiary amines. The deal should be finalized in the middle of this year.
Clariant’s full-year 2012 sales from continuing operations were SF6.04 billion compared with SF5.57 billion in 2011. The 8% gain was driven by Süd-Chemie, which Clariant acquired in 2011. Organic growth was flat, with 2% higher prices offsetting a 2% drop in volumes. Full-year net profit from continuing operations was slightly down, at SF211 million compared with SF220 million in 2011.
The company said it has clearly defined the businesses that will form the future portfolio of Clariant. These operations have competitive positions and strong pricing power, Kottmann said. The future portfolio is grouped under four business areas: natural resources, plastics and coatings, catalysis and energy, and care chemicals. The natural resources unit includes oil services, mining solutions, refinery services, water treatment, and functional materials. Plastics and coatings includes additives, pigments, and masterbatches. Catalysis and energy covers catalysts and energy storage. Care chemicals includes personal care, industrial care, home care, crop care, and enzymes and industrial biotechnology.
Clariant’s transformational acquisition of Süd-Chemie is unlikely to be followed by another major buy, Kottmann said. The company is looking to balance its technology gap and for bolt-on acquisitions. “There are some areas where we have technology gaps and some regional gaps,” he said. Clariant is focused increasingly on emerging markets such as China, India, and Brazil. The company also wants to extend its value chain to be closer to customers.
Clariant expects a moderate economic development in 2013, comparable with 2012. “The level of economic uncertainty remains high despite some positive signs recently,” Kottmann said. Clariant expects further sales growth and increased profitability. The company is aiming to achieve an Ebitda margin on a par with other leading specialty chemical companies, corresponding to 17% before exceptionals and a return on invested capital (ROIC) above the peer-group average by the end of 2015, Kottmann said. There are 8–9 top-quartile specialty chemical companies worldwide and “we are convinced that with the 17% Ebitda margin we will be among them,” he said. Clariant ranked ninth in ROIC in 2011, trailing Croda, Albemarle, Wacker Chemie, Arkema, BASF, Evonik Industries, Lanxess, and Celanese. The company expects to achieve its targets mainly through organic growth, Jany said. “The main driver for us reaching our 2015 targets in ROIC and Ebitda is the growth in our core businesses. This is driven by catalysis, consumer specialties, and oil services and mining solutions, while overall profitability will benefit from the segments of additives and pigments, which have been affected by the downturn in Europe but which we expect to improve their performance as well,” Jany told CW.
The company expects to spend SF300–350 million on capital projects this year, Jany said. That includes a previously announced doubling of Houdry dehydrogenation catalysts at Louisville, KY. The company is spending double-digit million Swiss francs on the project, for completion this September, and it is already planning for the next phase, Jany told CW. The next stage of the project is currently in the definition phase.
Clariant has doubled capacity for Exolit OP nonhalogenated flame retardants at Knapsack, Germany. Exolit OP, one of Clariant’s best-performing products, was also expected to be produced in Asia, but plans to build a plant there have been delayed because of the weakness in the electronics industry. “We have the plans for the next steps, but it will take a few years for them to develop,” Jany said. Clariant is also not proceeding with previously announced plans to establish a jv with LG Chem to produce lithium iron phosphate cathode material for batteries in Korea. Demand for the product, used in electric and hybrid vehicles, is lower than first expected and it will take some time for commercial volumes to pick up, he said. Clariant, meanwhile, has several projects in its masterbatches business in emerging markets.
The repositioning of Clariant’s portfolio will make the company less vulnerable to economic cycles. “Typically, pigments and masterbatches are linked to markets, which are more cyclical, GDP-linked. Additives are also in that category. Following the divestments, 60% of our turnover is noncyclical operations and 40% linked to GDP. Ultimately, in 2015 we will have 70% noncyclical and 30% cyclical businesses,” Jany said.


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Oath, the ad tech division of Verizon, has agreed to pay around $5m (£3.9m) to settle charges that it violated a federal children's privacy law. The fine is the largest ever penalty in a case based on the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
An investigation by the New York Attorney General's office found that, as AOL, Oath had conducted billions of auctions for ad space on hundreds of websites the company knew were directed to children under the age of 13. Through these auctions, AOL collected, used and disclosed personal information from the websites' users in violation of COPPA, as part of its offering to advertisers to track and serve targeted advertising.
"COPPA is meant to protect young children from being tracked and targeted by advertisers online," said Attorney General Barbara Underwood. "AOL flagrently violated the law - and children's privacy - and will now pay the largest-ever penalty under COPPA. My office remains committed to protecting children online and will contine to hold accountable those who violate the law."
The case focused on AOL and Oath's activity prior to November 2017, when its systems ignored any information that it receive from ad exchanges indicating that an ad space may be subject to COPPA.
Privacy issues are a growing concern among consumers and lawmakers. Earlier this year, a group of child advocacy, privacy and consumer rights organisations filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, asking it to investigate YouTube for potential COPPA violations, arguing that while the site's terms claim its aimed at children older than 13, YouTube is clearly targeting younger children by hosting videos including cartoons, nursery rhymes and toy ads.


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AWS launches data-sharing hub for machine learning projects
The AWS Data Exchange contains over 1,000 free and paid data products
Amazon Web Services has launched a subscription-based data service that gives users access to large datasets from third-party providers.
The AWS Data Exchange is a central hub that contains over 1,000 free and paid licensable data products from over 80 different data providers.
Some of the data providers include brands such as Reuters, Change Healthcare, Dun & Bradstreet and Foursquare.
Standard methods of third-party data subscription are inconsistent with the modern architectures customers are developing in the cloud, according to AWS, which said it was challenging to reach every customer that might be interested in their data without large investments in sales and marketing, as well as technology to store, deliver and entitle data for their customers.
These barriers often prevent customers who have valuable data from becoming a data provider, according to the cloud giant.
"Unfortunately, the way customers exchange data hasn't evolved much in the last 20 years," said Stephen Orban, GM of AWS Data Exchange. "AWS Data Exchange gives our customers the ability to quickly integrate third-party data in the workloads they're migrating to the cloud, while giving qualified data providers a modern and secure way to package, deliver, and reach the millions of AWS customers worldwide."
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Foursquare, an independent location data platform, has its audiences and places datasets available on the Data Exchange.
"AWS Data Exchange provides us with secure access to customers at the incomparable scale, while also serving as easy data ingestion and activation vehicle for data usage," said Josh Cohen, SVP of product at Foursquare.
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Commander Shepard will embark one final journey with the release of Mass Effect 3 DLC, Citadel, on March 5, BioWare has announced.
In Mass Effect 3: Citadel, players will explore and discover new locations across the vast, deep-space station while also having the opportunity to reconnect with some of their favourite characters from all three of the Mass Effect games. This will be the last single-player DLC for Mass Effect 3.
Mass Effect producer Michael Gamble says the DLC on Xbox 360 is "split over TWO DLC packages. It's nearly 4 gigs in total."
Citadel will cost 1200 MS Points/£11.99.
In addition a free multiplayer expansion, Reckoning, will be released on February 26, offering players new firepower and character kits for the war against the Reapers.
"The team has poured heart and soul into Mass Effect 3: Reckoning and Mass Effect 3: Citadel. As the launch of these chapters near, the feeling around the studio is bittersweet," said Casey Hudson, executive producer of the Mass Effect series. "We have always been humbled and driven by the passion of our fans for the Mass Effect trilogy. We hope fans will enjoy spending more time with some of their favourite characters - we have certainly enjoyed spending time creating them. We're excited to release this final sendoff for the trilogy and move forward into the future of the Mass Effect universe."
Source: Press release


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Startup banks on triple-level cell NAND advantage
Startup NxGnData has started to make its move as it hopes to grab the opportunities for technology that puts computational tasks closer to where data resides while also seeing a role for triple-level cell (TLC) NAND in the enterprise as "cold storage." It recently came out at the Flash Memory Summit after a year in operation.
In an interview with EE Times, James Fife, VP of business development, said the Irvine, Calif.-based company's design centre set up in Taiwan in December has 30 employees, with 40 on staff in total. He said the company sees itself as a solid-state drive (SSD) company first but also has its own controller in the works. "We feel an SSD player in the enterprise space needs to provide its own controller."
Fife said NxGnData is targeting hyperscale computing customers (the Googles and Amazons of the world) with a low-power controller that has a small footprint, the M.2 form factor, while also being able to address high-capacity storage, as much as 64TB.
In some uses cases, Fife said, the company will employ lower-cost TLC NAND, particularly for what has been dubbed cold storage of data, and that the company's variable code rate LDPC-based error-correcting code (ECC) memory can address endurance concerns. However, he believes, multi-level cell (MLC) is still the best option for hyperscale applications.
Social networking company Facebook has been vocal about wanting a low-cost flash technology, saying at last year's Flash Summit that a relatively low-endurance, poor-performance chip would better serve its need to store some 350 million new photos a day. Not long after, Jim Handy, principal analyst at Objective Analysis, concluded that Facebook would have to settle for a hierarchy of DRAM-flash-HDD for the foreseeable future. TLC might be cheaper and viable for cold storage, but not as cheap as Facebook would like, he said.
From left, NxGnData execs Richard Mataya, co-founder and SVP; Nader Salessi, founder and CEO; Vladimir Alves, co-founder and CTO; James Fife, VP of business development (Source: EE Times/Rick Merritt)
But TLC could make its way into the enterprise soon, as it is following a similar path to MLC's, as Handy said in a recent interview regarding Silicon Motion's latest controller for TLC NAND in client devices.
With regard to NxGnData's technology, Handy said the company is "biting into an awful lot." He said LPDC is very hard to implement workably because it's very esoteric and involves mass processing; some vendors do it well and others struggle with it. The other challenging technology NxGnData is implementing, according to Handy, is DSP, which involves signal processing and filters. For SSD makers, it involves understanding the environment around every individual bit, and "that's complicated."
He said the company does have a good pedigree in terms of the team it has assembled, with three founders who have collective experience with Western Digital, STEC and Memtech.
What's just as notable about NxGnData, said Handy, is its in-storage computation capability, dubbed In-Situ Processing. As outlined in a presentation by the company at this year's Flash Summit, In-Situ is based on the premise that a computation requested by an application is much more efficient if it is executed near the data it operates on, because that cuts network traffic, increases throughput and improves system performance.
This approach is better than the other way around, according to NxGenData, especially for big data, including large sets and unstructured data. Traditionally, enterprises have employed expensive, high-performance servers coupled with SAN/NAS storage, but this architecture is ultimately limited by networking bottlenecks.
With In-Situ processing, code is executed within the storage device (hence in-situ) with minimal impact on the application and seamless integration at the system level. Possible use cases for In-Situ include performing a number of functions on the SSD such as running grep remotely, searching large datasets using a hardware-assisted search engine and performing a map section of Map-Reduce.
Handy noted that a number of vendors have looked at this problem in the past, and some are addressing it in small way. "This is an interesting twist." He added that some vendors such as Violin, have built software so computers give directions and the flash array does all of the work. Another approach is Micron's Automata Processor.
Earlier this year, startup A3Cube announced a network interface card, dubbed RONNIEE Express, designed to eliminate the I/O performance gap between CPU power and data access performance for data centres, big data and high-performance computing applications.
Fife said NxGnData's key technology will be available for evaluation by a select group of customers in late 2014, with fully functional FPGA-based samples available in early 2015. Production samples of SoC-based M.2 solutions are expected in late 2015.
- Gary Hilson


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DOVER, N.H. -- New Hampshire convenience store operators said they are banking on sunshine this summer to help get a reprieve from slumping winter sales. Many locally owned stores report that their businesses are somewhat buffered by a variety of factors, including a stable tourism industry, Foster's Daily Democrat reported.
For them, the real key this summer will be weather forecasts, which determine if families looking for a budget getaway will stop in to stock up on drinks, charcoal and sunscreen.
Michele Collins, who owns Isinglass County Store in Rochester, N.H., told the newspaper her store's proximity to Baxter Lake buoys much of its summer business, with 30 to 35 percent of its annual sales coming from vacationers.
However, tourism dollars are only as certain as the weather report, which Collins uses as a barometer for future sales when she's determining what to buy and how much.
During a pleasant weekend, Collins told the newspaper, the store will be packed with people stocking up on deli salads, steak tips and beer. But when the weather forecast calls for rain, Collins said she simply expects the regular video rentals and dog food sales. "If you have a family that owns a lake house, if it's a rainy week up here, they don't come," she noted.
New Hampshire Grocers Association President John Dumais said in a recent New Hampshire Business Review story that 60 percent of the state’s convenience store market is generated [through] out-of-state visitors.
"As people visit the state to enjoy the seasons, the mountains or the lakes, they're going to get hungry or thirsty. They're going to need gas. This is encouraging our smaller stores to survive, but we're all experiencing a similar situation," he said.
Mark Flover, who opened Friendly Market and Deli in Rollinsford, N.H., last summer, said he already is starting to see his numbers climb as the days grow longer and customers emerge from their homes. "Most people are resistant during the winter," he told the Democrat. "They don't want to get out of the car and don't want to travel when it's dark. When there's nicer weather, there is a longer day for business."
This winter, when he said people were "much tighter with their dollars as far as discretionary spending goes," Flover decided to run a $2.99 special on large subs. The promotion didn't necessarily generate much profit on its face, but it helped him to develop a clientele and advertise the store's other products, the retailer explained.
"I probably made 50 cents off it [the sandwich], but if that's where they came to spend their little bit of discretionary money, then that was a good thing," he said.
Mike Tugel, owner of City Hall Market in Dover, told the newspaper it's "common sense" that weather plays a key role in business. He said it's difficult to know how much of his summer business is linked to tourism, but a steady set of regular customers have helped in slower times. Many of those customers are construction workers or painters working around downtown, and as the economy declines, he said he expects less of that business.
"If they aren't working, they aren't buying. I’ve had regular customers say they haven't worked in months. The unemployment rate is by far the most important for business."


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Carparts Distribution Center Inc., a New England-based chain of parts stores and an Auto Value shareholder owner of the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance Inc., is celebrating 45 years of business this year.
While COVID-19 put a damper on any official anniversary events, the company has virtually and internally honored the achievement.
“Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, we have still achieved a milestone anniversary,” said Stan Lewis, president of Carparts. “I am proud of and grateful for every member of the Carparts family who has enabled us to thrive for the past 45 years, and I look forward to many more years of Carparts growth and top-notch service.”
Since its founding in 1975, Carparts has been providing quality parts to its New England customers. Many of the company’s employees have been working in the industry for more than 40 years.
The company has 21 Carparts locations including the nine recently acquired stores in central Maine, and works with dozens of traditional jobbers. Carparts also services more than 80 Auto Value Certified Service Centers in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
“Congratulations to Carparts on 45 years of excellence,” said John Washbish, president and CEO of the Alliance. “All of the staff members at Carparts hold themselves to a high standard. We are proud to be associated with such a high-caliber company.”
Carparts Distribution Center, Inc., services several cities and states in the Northeast, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. Headquartered in Plaistow, N.H., Carparts operates 20 Carparts & Motor Supply parts stores and provides parts for more than 80 Auto Value Certified Service Centers in the Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.


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My guest this week is Dan Bridleman, a senior vice president with KB Home. As a home builder, KB Home has started to integrate some smart devices into their portfolio. Bridleman explains what those options are and how KB plans to support (or offload the support) of a smart home. He also shares what he’s excited about in the home sector and why newer technologies could do away with expensive home infrastructure like copper wiring to switches.
Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guest: Dan Bridleman, a senior vice president with KB Home Sponsors: MachineQ and IoT World
Ring is bad, but it’s hardly the only offender
Smart cities are the opposite of a smart home
The U.K. may mandate a device expiration date!
No one comes in wanting a smart home
New tech could replace a lot of expensive home wiring
Our guest this week is Perry Correll, product manager at Extreme Networks. Correll also acts as the liaison between Extreme Networks and the Wi-Fi Alliance and the IEEE’s 802.11 standards committee. We discuss why Wi-Fi 6 is such a sea change for networks, and also why you shouldn’t rush out and change your router. He also explains why Wi-Fi 6e is a big deal and updates us on the FCC’s progress in allocating spectrum. His comments will help both consumers and enterprise customers get a sense of the future of Wi-Fi.
This week Kevin and I went to Las Vegas for the annual CES event showcasing thousands of technology products under dozens of roofs. We recorded the show before we had the chance to see everything, but we did pull together this show with some of the big themes we saw developing and the news that we felt would matter most to our smart home listeners.
We saw several products purporting to adapt to the user and their environment to deliver a product or experience. L’Oreal showed off personalized makeup and skincare that adapted to the environment and your face on a daily basis, while Nanoleaf promised a lighting system that would learn your habits and deliver the right lighting. We also talked about a bunch of new Wi-Fi routers and a new talent that some routers will get. The third big trend revolves around healthcare for people and pets. We’ll have more on that next week as well.
Our guest this week touches on a topic many of our listeners will love — pets! Leonid Sudakov is the CEO of Kinship, a newly created business of Mars Petcare. Sudakov comes on the show to talk about the newly created business he’s running that combines connected gadgets and data analytics to understand the secret lives of our pets. He talks about what Kinship is looking for in partners and how technology can help people communicate with our companion animals.
Our guest this week is Danny Huang, one of the co-creators of Princeton’s IoT Inspector program. Huang shares why they created the program that tracks what smart devices are on a network and what they talk to and explains how it works. Some of his findings, such as the lack of security and vendors who seem to be confused about how good their security is, are worrisome. He also discusses how Princeton is handling privacy and what the program will do to your network. If you have a device that runs Mac OS, check IoT Inspector out.
This week’s guest is Nadir Izrael, the CTO of security firm Armis. He discusses how security challenges have changed in the era of connected devices and the business pressures behind some connected devices getting onto the network even when IT wants to say no. He also shares some horror stories associated with insecure connected devices, such as a hospital infusion pump infected with malware that was connected to a patient. Izrael says the hospital had to get a nurse to watch the patient all night to make sure the infusion pump didn’t misbehave. Weak security can cost lives, not just spam all your friends.
Our guest this week is Andy Coravos who is the CEO of Elektra Labs, a startup that is trying to create scientifically accurate benchmarks for medical devices. The early audience is pharma companies who want to remotely monitor participants in clinical trials and need to know if the step counter on the Apple Watch or the heart rate monitor on the Fitbit is accurate. Coravos was also a former EIR at the Food and Drug Administration, and she talks about the steps the agency is taking to regulate digital health products without standing in the way of innovation and security. It’s a great conversation.
This week our guest is Keith Kirkland, CEO of Wearworks, which makes a product called the Wayband. The Wayband uses haptic feedback to guide visually-impaired people using haptic feedback. Kirkland explains what his team learned about building a product, the opportunities offered by haptic feedback and how other designers should think about adding haptic feedback to their devices. And all of this started because he just wanted to build a connected suit that would help him learn Kung Fu. It’s a fun interview!
Our guest this week is Eve Maler, VP of innovation and emerging technology at ForgeRock. She is returning to the show to discuss how to handle the exploding number of passwords and to explain how new FIDO standards will help on the browser side. She also offers a bit of hope for the device side in the long and medium term. Come for the tips and stay for the deep dive into identity and authentication.
Hosts: Stacey Higginbotham and Kevin Tofel Guest: Eve Maler, VP of innovation and emerging technology at ForgeRock Sponsors: Afero and IoT World
Where is Siri in the new Apple?
Why hacking industrial systems is so fruitful
Airborne kidneys and more
Your password nightmare is almost over … on browsers
Our guest this week was Tobias Meene, the global head of digital farming at Bayer AG, who shared a bunch of insights about bringing sensors, machine learning and intelligence to farmers. He discussed how the firm has managed to remotely identify insects by their wingbeats using LIDAR, several startups working with Bayer to make farming more productive and how Bayer sees IoT remaking its business and business model. Plus, Bayer has built a cool app to identify weeds and problems called Xarvio. I couldn’t try the app because it’s not compatible with my devices, but I would love to. Enjoy the show.


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The New Food Conference will gather more than 500 key stakeholders from the food industry to discuss alternative proteins, on 23 and 24 April, and the programme has just been launched showcasing high-profile speakers from across the industry.
The speakers come from academia, the startup and investment scene, and the political sphere, to share their insights into the latest developments in the fields of plant-based and cultured foods.
Speakers at NFC 2020 will cover developments in the plant-based sector across the entire value chain, with a special focus on the key role of functional ingredients.
- Prof Mark Post, CSO of Mosa Meat
- Abhishek Sina, CEO and Co-founder of Good Dot
- Dr Tunyawat Kasemsuwan, Director of the Global Innovation Center at Thai Union Group
- Rosie Wardle, Programme Director at Jeremy Coller Foundation
- Dr Emanuele Zannini, Senior Research Coordinator at University College Cork
Other focus areas include international producer best-practices and retail and food-service perspectives on the rise of plant-based products. A panel discussion will shine a light on the changing role of agriculture in the new-protein era, giving a voice to farmers and addressing the question of how to meet the rising demand for protein crops.
The New Food Conference is also a platform for cultured proteins. As well as shining a light on new developments in the field of cultured meat and fish products, high-profile panellists will address the question as to why more and more big food companies are diversifying their protein portfolio and investing in cellular agriculture technologies.
Delegates to the New Food Conference will get a first-hand taste experience of tomorrow’s foods. Well-known brands, as well as innovative startups, will be showcasing their products in the exhibition area, inviting everyone to take a bite of the future. There are currently still openings for pioneering startups for the pitch sessions. Bold thinkers can apply via [email protected] until14 February.
The full programme and tickets for the New Food Conference are available at www.new-food-conference.com


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Amazon Prime Members Will Stop Getting Free Whole Foods Delivery Again!
Those who enjoy Whole Foods’ delivery will be disappointed to learn that Amazon will remove one of its perks from Amazon Prime memberships. Whole Foods orders that are delivered within two hours will now be charged for a $9.95 delivery charge by Amazon this week.
Before, Amazon Prime which costs $119 per year or $12.99 per month had had the Whole Foods service for free.
Amazon warned subscribers last month that the new fee was coming, even though it only took effect this week. An employee of Whole Foods told CNN Business that the extra charge is for operating costs like technology and equipment, and not for raising prices on the groceries.
Boston, Detroit, Chicago, Portland, Maine, Providence, Rhode Island, and Manchester, New Hampshire have been the six markets that will operate under the new fee over the summer before it went nationwide. There will also be an additional charge for a one-hour delivery for customers who will need such quick delivery.
Since Amazon acquired Whole Foods in 2018, the perk has been available with Prime memberships. In addition to the free one-hour pickup at Whole Foods store locations, Prime members will still have access to other Whole Foods benefits. Orders placed through Amazon Fresh will not be charged the new fee.
Walmart jumped at the chance to provide something Amazon could not provide before the Whole Foods fee went into effect. According to CNN Business, Walmart declared last week it would refund $9.95 to Walmart+ subscribers.
“Because customers deserve a grocery delivery service that won’t leave a Whole in their wallet for delivery fees – whoops, typo,” an email from Walmart stated.
Among Walmart+’s perks is free shipping without a minimum order, similar to Amazon Prime. Annually, it costs $98, and monthly it costs $12.95.
After a year of the Coronavirus pandemic, Americans are starting to feel the pinch of higher grocery costs. According to the Consumer Price Index, grocery prices rose by 3% from 2020. The cost of dining out also increased by 4.7% from last year.
Adobe’s Digital Economy Index calculates that grocery shopping costs increased by 1.64% in August 2021 compared to August 2020. The total cost of shopping online also climbed up by 3.1%.
Customers can still find a way to save money at Whole Foods as an Amazon Prime customer. Blue tags in stores indicate Prime members are eligible for sales on specific items in addition to the free one-hour pickup option, reports CNet.
Also, when an item already on sale has a yellow tag, Prime subscribers are eligible to get an extra 10% off. Customers can also get additional exclusive Prime deals through Whole Foods Market’s app at checkout.


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Mahindra has announced that it will invest Rs 10,000 crore to build the EV manufacturing plant in Pune and that the plan has been approved by the Government of Maharashtra under the EV Industrial Promotion Scheme. The production plant will be fully set up in the next 7-8 years.
Speaking on the development, Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director, Auto & Farm Sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., said, “We are delighted with this approval from the Government of Maharashtra for the establishment of our EV manufacturing plant in Pune and investment in what has been our ‘home’ state for over 70 years.The government’s focus on ‘ease of doing business’ and progressive policies, coupled with Mahindra’s investment, will act as a catalyst for Maharashtra to become the electric vehicle hub of India, attracting more Indian and foreign direct investment.”
BYD Interior Review Act 3 | Practical features or just gimmicks? | TOI Auto
Mahindra’s Born Electric SUVs will feature five models, the XUV.e8 and XUV.e9 are expected to arrive in the initial stage before the all-new BE.05, BE.07 and BE.09 approach production. The SUVs were designed at Mahindra’s Advanced Design Europe (MADE) facility in Oxfordshire, UK under the guidance of Chief Designer, Pratap Bose.


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OPPO A11 has surfaced on China Telecom database, revealing the key specifications of the upcoming handset, last month, an Oppo phone with a model number PCHM10 appeared on TENAA which is now confirmed that the device is actually the Oppo A11.
Online speculations claimed that the Oppo A11 will be launched on October 15th, though this wasn’t made by the Officials so we don’t know if it will be launched on the said date, but let’s watch and see.
As far as specs goes, it will come with a 6.5inch HD+ display which has a resolution of 720 by 1600. The device is powered by Snapdragon 665 Chip which has an Octa core processor. The Chipset runs on Android 9.0 pie with ColorOS skin on top, it is paired with a 4GB RAM and 128GB ROM and it has a micro SD card slot.
There is a triple cameras at the rear which consists of a 48mp primary camera, an 8mp secondary shooter and 2mp camera. For your awesome selfie and video call, you can make use of that with the 16mp front camera of the Oppo A11.
What will be giving the device energy is a 4,800mAh battery with USB TYPE-C cable as claimed by the leaker. The back of the phone has an OPPO Reno style gradient finish. The OPPO A11 is said to be available in black, white, purple and green colours. It measures 163.5 x 75.6 x 8.1mm and weighs 195 grams. There is a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor for security.
The listing suggests the OPPO A11 price will be RMB 1,599 (around Rs 16,000).


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Thousands of tickets booked – great seats still available
(Central Islip, N.Y., Nov. 28, 2012) – The 2012 Atlantic League champion Long Island Ducks kicked off the group ticket sales season on Wednesday, November 28, as fans jammed phone lines throughout the morning to reserve their outings for 2013. More than 61,000 tickets were booked in just the first six hours of availability.
“This day is always a thrilling time of year for us,” says Ducks director of group sales John Wolff. “We can’t wait to see our groups out at the ballpark cheering on the Ducks as they look to defend their championship.”
There are still great seats and dates available for groups to book outings for the 2013 season. Fans are encouraged to call (631) 940-3825 and speak with a group sales representative today.
The Ducks offer a wide variety of group ticket packages in 2013, including regular group tickets, all-you-can-eat pre-game and in-game picnics, party deck and luxury suite rentals. In addition, groups at Bethpage Ballpark have the chance to participate in on-field activities such as pre-game performances, the National Anthem, color guards, the Nicolock Dream Team and, brand new for 2013, the chance to shag fly balls during Ducks batting practice. Regular group ticket pricing ranges from $8.50 to $12. For more information regarding group ticket options and pricing, please CLICK HERE.
In addition, 2013 Season Ticket Packages and 10-Game Mini Plans, a great gift at holiday time, are now on sale. Fans wishing to become season ticket or mini plan holders are encouraged to contact the ticket office today at (631) 940-3825, extension 115 or 116.
The Long Island Ducks are members of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and play their home games at Bethpage Ballpark. For further information, call (631) 940-DUCK or visit www.liducks.com.


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The Philippines’ Boracay Island made world-famous for its pristine and white sand Boracay Beach placed 1st (no 1) best overall in Asia according to Travel+ Leaisure’s World’s Best Awards 2012,
BORACAY named 2012 No.1 World’s Best Island, as featured on NBC’s Today Show… Boracay has been named as this year’s world’s best island getaway by an international travel magazine.
The magazine’s editor, Nilou Motamed, made the announcement Friday on the “Today” daily American morning television show that airs on NBC.
“The world’s best island, I confess to never having heard of it in the Philippines,” “Today” host Willie Geist.
“This is important, Boracay. It beat out Bali, number 2. It’s one of those islands you should know about if you’re interested in culture and value,” Motamed told Geist.
“Our readers love this, it’s not been on anyone’s radar. It’s in the Philippines. This is the place that you’re gonna get Hotels that you can stay for $50 a night.
The 2012 World’s Best Awards winners will be honored at a ceremony on July 19 that will be hosted by Novogrod and the magazine’s vice-president and publisher, Jean-Paul Kyrillos, at the newly opened Conrad New York.
Travel + Leisure’s top 10 island destinations in 2012, based on a survey of readers are:
Boracay, Philippines – 93.10
Bali – 90.41
Galápagos – 89.55
Maui – 89.53
Great Barrier Reef Islands, Australia – 89.28
Santorini, Greece – 89.20
Kauai – 89.09
Big Island, Hawaii – 87.95
Sicily, Italy – 87.87
Vancouver Island, British Columbia – 87.48


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The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional economic union consisting of 15 countries in West Africa. In July 2019, the member states agreed to a landmark free trade agreement aimed at boosting intra-regional trade and economic growth.
The ECOWAS free trade agreement will eliminate tariffs on 90 percent of goods traded between member states over a 10 year period. This will create a single market with a combined population of over 300 million people and a GDP of $600 billion.
The agreement also aims to address non-tariff barriers to trade, such as poor infrastructure, border delays, and corruption. It will also create a framework for intellectual property rights, competition policy, and investment.
The benefits of the agreement are numerous. By removing tariffs and other barriers to trade, it will increase competition and drive down prices for consumers. It will also encourage investment in infrastructure and other sectors, creating new jobs and opportunities for businesses.
However, there are also concerns that smaller member states may struggle to compete with larger economies, such as Nigeria and Ghana. Some critics also worry that the agreement may lead to the dumping of cheap goods from outside the region, further harming local industries.
Despite these concerns, the ECOWAS free trade agreement is a significant step forward for the region. It has the potential to stimulate economic growth, improve living standards, and increase the global competitiveness of West African industries. As member states work to implement the agreement, they will need to address these challenges to ensure its success.